A Game of Pool
by Bfly-san
Summary: It all started with a game of pool… Chapter 4 is up, finally! Takes place before the S-class arc. Rated T for some language. May contain spoilers and irregular updates.
1. A Game of Pool

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This is Bfly with my newest story! I still don't know where this will be going, so please bear with me! This is my take on GajeelXLevy, so please enjoy! I wanted to explore Levy's Fairy (aka destructive) side so I hope I did ok.

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**DISCLAIMERS: I DO NOT I repeat: DO NOT own Fairy Tail….darn T_T **

**And Lily's speech on how to start the game is largely taken from Wikipedia's page on eight ball and can be found at ****.org/wiki/Eight-ball**

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At the edge of a town named Magnolia, there was the loudest, most insane, drunken, fighting guild to be found. This guild was named Fairy Tail. Did fairies exist? If they did, did they have tails? A never ending adventure brought the mages of Fairy Tail together. Today at the guild, a certain newcomer was feeling very bored. The male was tall, well built, and very intimidating. He had long, black hair, cold, red eyes and piercings all over his face and arms. This was the iron dragon slayer, Gajeel. Next to him sat a very small, cute, furry cat. The only flaw in this cat was a scar on his left eye. This was Gajeel's companion, the exceed Pantherlily, or Lily for short. The two were an unusual and inseparable pair.

"I am so fucking bored," said the iron mage as he sighed. "Why the hell is Salamander out doing a job for? I need to kick some ass!"

Lily looked at his counterpart, "He's out helping Lucy pay her rent. Why not try something different for a change?"

As a sign that some otherworldly being actually exists, Jet and Droy came up to the iron mage's table.

"Yo!" said Jet, with his trademark hat and too long tooth.

"Iron Gajeel, why so blue?" asked Droy, whose hair he really didn't quite understand.

"Tsk, I'm bored as hell and that damn Salamander is AWOL" he complained to the two men who had just sat down at his table.

A couple of months ago this conversation wouldn't have happened. When he was a Phantom Lord Guild member, he had beaten the shit out of them and their female teammate, Levy. He had crucified them on a tree in the Park, and marked Levy with the Phantom Lord's insignia. When Phantom Lord was disbanded, he had nowhere to go. Master Makarov had asked him to join Fairy Tail, the very same Fairy Tail that he had come to hate in Phantom Lord. Obviously, this did not sit well with Jet and Droy, and they had called him out when he was going to a mission and ganged up on him. He hadn't fought back, hell they deserved to kick his ass, but the little blue haired mage just stood there, refusing to join in and asking her teammates to stop. Unfortunately, things got worse when Laxus showed up. Damn bastard had barbequed him. What surprised him the most was that Team Shadow Gear had voiced an objection to Laxus' ways. And when he saw that bolt head straight for her, he didn't think, he only reacted. He took the hit for her. Apparently this single act lessened Jet and Droy's despise for him, and they eventually got on speaking terms, especially after he and Salamander had teamed up to take down Laxus. So now they were friends, sort of.

"Well, Droy and I were going down to the rec room and shoot some pool. Wanna join?"

"It'll be a 2-on-2 match. Jet and I vs. you and Lily."

This sounded like a challenge to Gajeel. He smiled widely and looked at Lily. "You wanted to do something different."

"That I did," said Lily as he got up from the table and followed the three men.

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Levy closed the book she had just finished. It ended in a cliff hanger, as the female protagonist was rushed to the hospital. Now she had to get the last book of the series and see if she survived. _Of course she survives; she's the main female character!_ She stretched her body and yawned loudly. She had spent most of the day in the library, and was surprised that she didn't have any interruptions. Sure, Lucy was gone on a job with Natsu, Gray, Happy and Erza, so most of the really loud people were gone. This also meant that Lucy wasn't here so she could talk about the book. _Oh why did I have to finish it so quickly? _Her stomach growled. She had neglected feeding herself again. She headed out of the library and looked for her two best friends, Jet and Droy. She didn't see them, so she headed to the bar and ordered some food. As she was eating, Mira came to her and asked her what she wanted to drink.

"Some pink lemonade please."

"Coming right up!" said the pretty white-haired mage.

"Hey Mira, have you seen Jet and Droy today?"

"Hmm…" Mira gave Levy her juice, "I think I saw them with Gajeel and Lily. They were headed down to the amusement center."

"OK, thanks Mira," she said and drank her juice. _They're probably playing pool._ She got up, and headed downstairs and saw the three men and the cat (now as tall as them) playing pool. She got excited! She had always wanted to learn how to play pool, but she really sucked at it. Jet and Droy had promised to teach her, and have only done so once. Maybe they'll be willing after they had finished their game. She headed up to the guys.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" she said happily.

"L-Levy?" said Jet.

"Hey squirt," responded Gajeel as he lined up to take a shot.

"Afternoon, Levy," said Lily.

"Weren't you at the library reading a book?" asked Droy.

"Oh, I finished it already," she answered. "Are you guys going to have time today to teach me how to play?"

"UH-"articulated Droy spectacularly.

"Well, actually Levy, this was our last game and Droy and I were planning to-"

"-clean up our apartment," Droy helpfully added. "We've been busy with our recent missions and have let the place go."

"Oh," her face fell. Gajeel looked up. This was the fifth game they had played and they never mentioned anything about leaving anytime soon to clean up their place. He saw the sad look on her face and decided, eh what the hell. He had nothing better to do anyways.

"If you want, I'll teach you after this game," he said.

Her face instantly lit up as she smiled at him. He really didn't have time to register her look as his eyes were immediately drawn to the two guys shaking their heads and making throat slicing motions with their hands like a couple of idiots. "_What the hell?"_ thought Gajeel. "Really? Thanks Gajeel!" said a gleeful Levy.

His attention went back to the short girl as she smiled at him. He blushed, "You don't have to get that happy," he muttered.

She sat down on a nearby stool and watched the men finish their game. Apparently both teams were tied. Lily smoothly placed the eight ball in the corner pocket to insure his and Gajeel's win. After their defeat, Jet and Droy left Gajeel to his doom.

"Do you think we should've warned him, explicitly?" asked Jet, a little worried.

"Well, we did try. I just hope he survives," replied Droy. "We might as well go clean up our place."

They walked to their apartment partly because that's what they had told Levy and partly because they were afraid to suffer Gajeel's wrath after realizing the threat they had left him with.

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"So, have you played before?" Gajeel asked the tiny girl.

"Jet and Droy had tried to teach me once before," she told him.

"So what did they teach you?" asked Lily.

"Um, you hit the white ball-"she said as she placed her index finger on her lips and tried to remember what they had taught her.

"The cue ball," corrected Gajeel.

"Right, so you hit the cue ball with the stick,"

"The cue stick."

"Yeah, and try to hit the other balls into the holes-"

"Pockets."

"Would you stop that?" said an annoyed Lily.

"What? I'm making sure she gets the lingo right," said Gajeel.

"You're being an ass," retaliated Lily.

"It's ok Lily, I don't mind," said Levy.

"Anyways, since you got the idea of it, let's see what you can do. Lily, rack the balls up."

Lily grabbed the triangular rack while Gajeel started to collect the balls from the pockets and handing them to little cat. All the while, Lily was explaining what they were doing to Levy, "To start the game, the object balls are placed in this," he pointed to the triangle, "triangular rack. The base of the rack is parallel to the end rail, which is the short end of the pool table. You try to get the top ball centered on this spot, called the foot spot. The order of the balls should be random, with the exceptions of the 8 ball, which must be placed in the center of the rack, which is the middle of the third row," he said as he placed said ball into position, "and the two back corner balls one of which must be a stripe and the other a solid," he pointed at each corner. "The balls in the rack are placed so that they are all in contact with one another," as he proceeded to press the balls together from the back of the rack toward the top.

"Did ya get all that, bookworm?" asked Gajeel.

"I think so," she said.

"Good, I'll have you set up next time. Now I'm going to break. You place the…" he held the cue ball meaningfully as Lily rolled his eyes.

"Cue ball," answered Levy.

"Right," he grinned at her, "you place the cue ball anywhere you want inside the 'kitchen'" as he pointed out the area behind a line on the table. He placed the cue ball on the table. "Place both feet on the ground, your dominant hand on the butt of the cue stick and your other hand you extend on the shaft to help you balance. And," he moved his right hand back and with some force hit the cue ball, hit the balls that Lily had set up, scattering them around the table. He handed her the cue stick, "Here, your first lesson is pocketing as many balls as possible."

She took the stick, _cue stick_ she reminded herself, from Gajeel. She mimicked Gajeel's stance, took aim of the 1-ball, which was lined up with the left side corner pocket, pulled back her hand and hit the cue ball as hard as she could. She missed pocketing the 1-ball, so she moved to where the cue ball was and aimed for the 4-ball. Levy was so engrossed in her task that she failed to realize that the solid yellow 1-ball had bounced off the rail and sailed straight into Gajeel's face. He barely had time to recover when the solid purple 4 ball went sailing past him. _What the hell?_ He thought as he and Lily took cover by overturning a pool table. The other people who were in the rec room fled up the stairs into the bar. What have they unleashed!

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Inspiration ******for this story is the fact that I tried to learn to play pool in college, but was so bad at it that my friend who was teaching me told me to just quit. I wasn't destructive; I'm just really, really bad at it! Please review! **

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	2. Tough Love

**Here's chapter 2! Bfly is happy for all the reviews and faves she has received, I really appreciate it! Hope you like this one too!**

**Shout out to Ed who is my main man on proof reading! Thanks a bunch!**

**Disclaimer: Looking at Wikipedia's page it says that Fairy Tail is still owned by Hiro Mashima…**

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_How can something so small be so destructive?_ Thought Gajeel as he and Pantherlily cowered behind an overturned pool table. The destructor was a small, blue-haired, usually good natured girl that he had foolishly offered to teach billiards too. She was hitting the balls so hard that they were ricocheting off the rails and bombarding the surrounding area. _Damn those two,_ he thought as his mind wondered onto Jet and Droy who had left him alone to "clean their apartment" _they tricked me! Wait until I get my hands around their necks! I'll strangle the life out of them!_

"You need to put an end to this madness!" cried Lily, snapping him out of his thoughts on torturing and killing Jet and Droy. The solid blue 2-ball smashed through the table right between them and embedded itself onto the wall in front of them.

"I-I'll wait until she runs out of balls," he said.

Levy had missed again. _Dammit!_ She was remembering what Jet and Droy had taught her when the first tried to teach her. _Relax, aim and hit the white ball to hit a colored ball into one of the pockets. Ok 8-ball, you are going down!_ She aimed at the cue ball and felt someone grab the hand that was holding the cue stick.

"That's enough shorty," growled Gajeel. He had stood directly behind her, assuming that it would be the safest place to be.

"Ga-Gajeel!" she stuttered as she was caught by surprise. She started to blush as she realized he was standing pretty close to her.

"Jeez, I never thought that _you_ could cause so much mayhem and destruction. Everyone else hightailed it out of here as soon as the first ball went flying!" He grinned at her, "But then again, you are a member of Fairy Tail, so it's expected that you'd be capable of wide spread damage."

She looked around and saw that Gajeel, Lily and her were the only ones left in the amusement center. She saw that all the balls that she had failed to pocket (which was all of them) were either lying on the floor or embedded on the walls. There were holes on the tables and ceiling. Feeling ashamed, she turned a bright red. She felt the tears building up in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. "Sorry…" she said her voice breaking as she fought to hold her tears.

"Sorry for what?" said Gajeel, bewildered by her reaction. He had no idea what he did wrong this time.

"For all of this," she swept her arm across the room. "I always do the same thing. I get too focused on what I'm doing and fail to see the big picture. Even on missions, I-I" she sobbed, unable to finish what she was saying.

"Hey, why are you crying?" _I was complimenting her, not trying to make her cry! Women should come with fucking manuals!_ He was no good at dealing with sobbing females. He looked at Lily, who just shrugged, apparently as flabbergasted as he was. _Great_! He turned her to face him; put both hands on either side of her now wet cheeks and forced her to look at him as gently as possible. He didn't want to hurt her, and if he accidently did, he was sure he'd be killed by the guild. "Hey, stop crying! Everyone makes mistakes, nobody's with it. If you still want to play pool, I'll teach you like I said I would, on one condition: NO MORE TEARS! Besides, you're making Lily sad," he added, holding back his chuckle as he saw Lily cross his arms and pout from the corner of his eye.

Levy smiled and dried her eyes. She never thought that Gajeel would be cheering her up. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I felt so embarrassed, and…"

Lily patted her hand, "It's ok; you let your emotions take over you."

"Lily, sorry if I made you sad," she scooped up the small, brown cat in her arms and hugged him. _Well, being small and cute certainly had its advantages! I'll never complain again, _he thought. She placed Lily back on the table. "Gajeel, thanks for cheering me up," and hugged him as well. He felt his cheeks get hot as blood rushed to his face. It was a short, friendly hug, and it was over as quickly as it began. She stepped back, looked at him and smiling said, "So Gajeel-sensei, I'm ready to learn!"

_Fuck, girls are so confusing._ He saw Lily holding back his laughter. He looked at Lily crossly, and in a rougher tone than he meant to use, said "Just Gajeel. No need for any of that sensei crap." He cleared his throat and in his normal, gruff tone said, "I think the first thing we need to teach you is: how to hit the cue ball normally."

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Cana walked in the guild around 3:00pm that day. She had spent the entire night playing poker and drinking with two guys that she had just met. She was sure that they kept buying her drinks to get her drunk and take her home, but what they didn't know was that she had an incredibly high tolerance of alcohol. In the end the guys lost a lot of money, both on drinks and losing games. She had gotten home around five in the morning, tired and 1 million jewels richer. _Stupid tourists, serves them right for trying to take advantage of a single girl._ She walked up to the bar where Mirajane was.

"Cana, I thought you weren't going to show up! Erza said you came in late last night, or should I say early this morning?" said the cheerful bartender.

"Let me have a turkey club and coffee, black." Mira went to get her order started and served her the coffee. She added two spoons of sugar, stirred and took a sip before answering Mira's questions. "I was playing poker with a couple of douche bag tourists who were trying to get into my pants by getting me drunk, so I left them with only the clothes on their backs," she laughed.

"Now Cana, if you keep this up many tourists won't ever come back."

"Serves them right, the pricks."

Mira laughed as she headed to the window to fetch Cana's sandwich. As Cana was eating, a blue haired girl sat next to her and said, "Hello, Cana. Juvia thought that you weren't coming in today, and Juvia was worried when you didn't come in last night."

"Hey Juvia, sorry if I made you worry. I had to teach some guys a lesson!" Cana proceeded to tell Juvia the accounts of the previous night. The two had become very close friends after Laxus had forced the guild to fight one another in order to find out who was the strongest, when in reality he just wanted to become the new guild master. They got caught in one of Fried's runes, and Juvia had sacrificed herself in order to escape.

"If Juvia would have been there she would've scolded them for using such underhanded tricks!"

"I just hope they learned their lesson and never try that stunt on any girl again," she said, shoving the last bit of her sandwich in her mouth. _Elfman makes the best turkey clubs anywhere!_ She finished her coffee and said to Juvia, "so, what have you been up to today?"

"Not much. Gray-sama hasn't come back from his mission, so Juvia has been looking at the request board to see if Juvia should also go on a mission."

"Where's Gajeel?" she asked. She knew that Juvia and Gajeel were close friends too. And Gajeel made a decent drinking buddy.

"Juvia saw him go to the amusement center with Jet and Droy."

This gave the card mage an idea. "Want to go shoot some pool?"

"Sure! Juvia would like to play pool!"

"You should be careful when you go down, Levy is there," warned Mira, who had come over to take Cana's dishes.

"What's wrong with Levy?" asked a curious Juvia.

"She's a terrible player. Here, it'll be easier for you to see it than for me to explain it." They got up and headed to the rec room. The peaked around the corner and saw Levy who had her back turned to them, aiming the cue ball with the yellow striped 9-ball. She hit the cue ball haphazardly, which made the 9-ball shoot out from the table, hit the rail and sail towards where they were on looking. The ball went directly to Juvia's head, which went through harmlessly thanks to Juvia's ability to turn her body into water.

"Juvia see's what you mean," she said as she surveyed the room. All the balls were either lying on the floor or embedded on the walls. There were holes on the tables and ceiling.

Levy positioned herself parallel to where Cana and Juvia were, but since she was a little further down, they remained unseen. They saw Levy take aim at the cue ball and the black 8-ball, when they saw Gajeel and Lily walk towards the little solid script mage. Lily had seen them at them at the door, and was about to wave when Cana put a finger to her lips. _Quiet cat! This could get interesting!_ Lily gave a slight nod as he landed on the pool table as Gajeel grabbed the hand that Levy was holding the cue stick.

"That's enough shorty," growled Gajeel. He was standing pretty close to her.

"Ga-Gajeel!" she stuttered. She looked like she was blushing.

"Jeez, I never thought that _you_ could cause so much mayhem and destruction. Everyone else hightailed it out of here as soon as the first ball went flying! But then again, you are a member of Fairy Tail, so it's expected that you'd be capable of wide spread damage."

As Levy looked around the rec room, Cana and Juvia hid further up the stairs. They didn't head back down until they heard Levy say, "Sorry…" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Sorry for what?" said Gajeel.

"For all of this," she swept her arm across the room. "I always do the same thing. I get too focused on what I'm doing and fail to see the big picture. Even on missions, I-I" she sobbed, unable to finish what she was saying.

"Hey, why are you crying?" he sounded concerned. Juvia and Cana exchanged meaningful expressions. They nearly squealed when they saw him turn her to face him, put both hands on either side of her tear-stained cheeks and forced her to look at him. "Hey, stop crying! Everyone makes mistakes, nobody's with it. If you still want to play pool, I'll teach you like I said I would, on one condition: NO MORE TEARS! Besides, you're making Lily sad," he added, and they nearly laughed when they saw Lily cross his arms and pout at the iron dragon slayer.

Levy smiled and dried her eyes. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I felt so embarrassed, and…"

Lily patted her hand, "It's ok; you let your emotions take over you."

"Lily, sorry if I made you sad," she scooped up the small, brown cat in her arms and hugged him. She placed Lily back on the table, who looked like he was blushing. "Gajeel, thanks for cheering me up," and hugged him as well. They saw Gajeel actually _blush_. It was a short, friendly hug, and it was over as quickly as it began. She stepped back, looked at him and smiling said, "So Gajeel-sensei, I'm ready to learn!"

Juvia made a water heart. Lily nodded and Cana responded with a thumbs up. Lily was trying to hold back his laughter. Gajeel looked at Lily crossly, and in a rough tone said "Just Gajeel. No need for any of that sensei crap." He cleared his throat and in his normal, gruff tone said, "I think the first thing we need to teach you is: how to hit the cue ball normally."

The two girls looked at each other. This was going to be very interesting!

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**I hope you also agree with Cana and Juvia! Sorry it's a little on the short side, I promise the next one will be longer! Please review whether you liked it or not!**


	3. Pool 101

**Bfly here recovering from a major migraine. If you have never experienced one, I hope that you never do! They are horrible! But anyways, finally finished this bad boy so here you go! Hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for the reviews and faves! **

**Ed, once again, a million thanks!**

**DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is not mine, so props to Hiro Mashima!**

"Ok, let's see if you remember how Lily set up," said Gajeel, deciding to play it safe. He and Lily set off on picking up (and yanking out) the balls from around the room. Lily headed towards the stairs, where Cana and Juvia where hiding to make sure they remained undiscovered by Levy and Gajeel.

"Ok, so first I need the triangle thingy-"

"Rack," corrected Gajeel.

"Yeah, that. And I place the _rack_ so that the bottom part is parallel to the…the…" she frowned. She couldn't remember the name.

"End…" Gajeel said giving her a hint as he handed a couple of balls to her.

"End rail!" she said, happy she remembered. "They have to be random, but the eight ball goes in the middle and the bottom corners have to be one solid," she placed a solid ball, "and one striped," she placed said ball on the opposite corner. She filled the rack and placed the top ball on the marker.

"What's the marker called?"asked Gajeel.

Levy felt like she was back at school. _Sheesh, and he didn't want to be called sensei, even though he acts like one!_ "Um… foot…foot something."

Gajeel nearly laughed as he saw Levy scrunch up her face from thinking so hard. "Foot spot."

"Foot spot, right. Now I have to make sure that all the balls are all touching each other," she mimicked the way she had seen Lily pressing the balls together. Gajeel inspected her work over her shoulder. She felt goose bumps on her skin as he breathed down her neck.

"Not bad for your first time," he said.

"Good job," said Lily."I will break so you can start your training." Lily broke, as Gajeel looked for an easy shot. He couldn't find one, so he made his own. He picked up the cue ball and placed it as linearly as possible to the red 3-ball, which was lined up perfectly with the upper right corner pocket.

"Come here shorty," Levy obediently walked towards the pierced man. "The best way to teach you how to control yourself is for you to experience it first-hand."

Lily raised an eyebrow, _Is he going to do what I think he's going to do_? He stayed quiet and hoped that those two hiding wouldn't give away their positions.

"What do you have in mind?" asked the unsuspecting Levy.

Gajeel blushed a little but kept his voice even as he said, "I'm going to hit the balls for you while I stand behind you, is that all right with you?"

Several things happened at once. Levy blushed heavily as the implication of what he was proposing dawned on her. Juvia and Cana also understood what he wanted to do and Cana had to cover Juvia's mouth as she squealed in glee. Lily coughed, diverting the sensitive iron dragon's attention to him. Cana held her breath, afraid that even the minutest sound would give them away. _Not when this was getting this good!_

"Hairball," said Lily nonchalantly.

"Right," said Gajeel giving lily a curious glance before returning his attention to Levy. "You haven't answered me yet, shorty."

"Oh right," she said, snapping back to reality. "Sure, I don't have any problems with it."

"Good now come here." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, her back towards him. "Now, feet flat on the ground. Good, now grab the cue stick," it was a good thing they were both right-handed, "lean forward, stretch your left arm out to balance the shaft. Twist to your right a bit." He guided her with her with his left hand oh her hip. Levy's heart nearly exploded, she was glad he couldn't see her face turn the bright red that it did, although she was sure he could hear her heart. His right hand was wrapped gently over hers; his body was pressing onto her, his left hand no longer on her hip but beside her left arm, fingers coiled and lightly touching hers. He lowered his face down to her level, and Levy's heart beat even faster when she saw how close he was to her. _What's wrong with me?_

"Are you ok, shorty?"

"Y-yes, perfectly fine!" she lied. _Get a grip, Levy!_

"Ok, then pay attention, and try to remember how much force I apply onto the cue stick."

"R-right."

"In this case, you want to hit the cue ball hard enough that it will come back after hitting the ball, not following it to the pocket and risk scratching."

"Scratching?"

"It's the name of a foul for putting the cue ball into the pocket."

"Oh."

"Now feel what I do, ok?" She nodded. She felt him, alright. She felt him as he moved both of their arms back and hit the cue ball. The ball went in and the cue ball rebounded, just like he said it would. "Did ya get that?"

"I think so," she said.

"Good." He let her go and set up a similar situation, "Now you try."

"Alright," she said, thinking about what she had just experienced. Gajeel walked behind her, and after a few adjustments to her stance (she felt her heart hammering in her chest when he placed both hands on her hips), he stood to her right.

"Go on," he said, trying to encourage her. She took a deep breath to steady herself and once again hit the cue ball a little too hard. It ricocheted off the rail and towards Gajeel's face, but he was ready this time and caught it before it hit him again. "What the hell? I thought you said you got it!"

"Oh! Sorry! Maybe if I try again…"

"No! Wait!" he said as she readied herself again. "Here," he blushed as he scratched the back of his head, "let's try this one more time."

Cana and Juvia were having a field day. Seeing the iron mage causing Levy to blush with just a touch was the highlight of the day. Well who could blame her, the way he was touching her seemed so sensual that even Juvia was blushing furiously (of course Cana highly suspected that she was imagining herself and Gray in that same situation; especially when Gajeel grabbed her hips). Poor Levy would turn so red that Cana wondered if she had any blood anywhere else in her body. And seeing Gajeel be so gentle with her, giving her little glances when he thought she wasn't looking, blushing ever so slightly, and staying as close to her for as long as he could made Cana's inner self squirm with delight. It took Levy a total of five tries with Gajeel for her to finally tone down her strength. Lily often smirked at Gajeel when he stood too close for too long, causing him to scowl and step away. This, obviously, made the cat grin even more.

"Ok, now that you've got that down, let's see how good your aiming is. First test: straight line. Same thing you've been doing, but this time I won't be helping you aim," he said much to Juvia and Cana's disappointment. He placed the balls and told her to have at it. She got it on her first try. "Not bad, bookworm, but you don't always get a perfect line."

Gajeel complicated the shots, but Levy was a quick learner (after getting her strength under control, of course). Gajeel was impressed with her ability to hit the cue ball at angles, and finding a line to get into the pocket. _She's not bad at all._ Cana and Juvia started to get bored, since it the fun was obviously over. Juvia, turning her arm into water, extended it to the door, opening and closing it. Cana walked in place and shouted, "Hey Levy! Did you kill Gajeel and Lily or are they still alive?" Lily tried not to laugh. Levy crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted.

"Gajeel-kun, Lily-kun! Juvia is so glad to see that you two are in one piece."

"Baka, I'm not that easy to kill, you know," answered Gajeel. Juvia laughed.

"So what are you two doing here?" asked Lily as innocently as possible.

"We got bored and wanted to shoot some pool. You two can keep training, we'll play at another table," said Cana.

Levy turned a light shade of pink as she remembered her earlier training with Gajeel. _I'm glad they didn't see that!_ Juvia and Cana headed towards one of the undamaged pool tables and started up their own game. Gajeel turned to talk to Levy, when suddenly her stomach growled. She blushed, embarrassed. Gajeel smirked and said, "You need some food in your system, shorty. Let's call it a day and have some dinner."

"Aren't you hungry at all, Gajeel?" she asked, not wanting to eat alone.

"Just a little bit," he said, not wanting to admit how ravenous he was. However, his body betrayed him by growling loudly. Everyone laughed.

"You are such a terrible liar!" laughed Lily, whose stomach also growled.

Gajeel smirked evilly as he leaned in and said, "Is someone hungry?" Lily swiped his paw at his face in retaliation, causing three faint lines to appear on his cheek. He paid no attention to his scratch and pinched Lily's cheeks.

"Apologize!"

"I refuse!" and he scratched Gajeel's arm, but instead of dropping him, Gajeel had dragon scales so that Lily's claws were rendered harmless.

"Try getting out now! Apologize!"

"Death before dishonor!" roared Lily as he transformed into his bigger form. This, of course, forced Gajeel to let go of Lily's cheeks.

"Well played, cat," said Gajeel, impressed. They both squared off and were about to brawl when another growl from Levy's stomach forced them to reconsider. They looked over and saw that the girls were looking at them with rather amused expressions on their faces.

"Truce?" suggested Lily.

"For now," replied Gajeel. "Let's get something to eat before shorty here dies of starvation."

"I'm hungry, not starving," complained Levy as she followed them up to the bar. She waved goodbye to Cana and Juvia.

**And that's a wrap! Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you think! **


	4. The Long Road Ahead

**Bfly here hiding from the incoming blizzard approaching here! It's so cold! But anyways, sorry for the delay, but here's chapter 4! Hope you guys enjoy it! As always any reviews are appreciated! **

**Ed: Thanks again for proof-reading!  
**

**Disclaimer: This is here so that I can avoid being sued: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL!**

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Gajeel and Lily cornered Jet and Droy the following morning.

"So, you left us there to suffer through the bookworm, huh?"

"Sorry Gajeel and Lily. We did try to warn you guys though," said Jet.

"Through what, smoke signals?" said Lily.

"No, through sign language, you know?" Droy and his counterpart did the same gestures they had done the previous day.

"Here I thought you were being jealous and were threatening me to keep my hands off her," he said, knowing that they had a weakness for the small blunette.

"You did keep your hands off her, right?" said Jet, who instantly took the bait Gajeel had laid out.

"Maybe," he said, extracting his revenge on the two.

* * *

Erza and her team had just come back from their mission that morning, and she was watching the situation carefully. When Gajeel put his finger on Jet's chest, Erza got up and was going to reprimand them when Natsu grabbed her hand and said, "Let them be. Gajeel is our nakama now, he won't hurt them."

Erza looked down at Natsu and glared at the pink haired boy who was half way through his breakfast. He flinched, but he did not take his hand off of her, "Let me go. I don't trust him."

"I know you don't, that's why I'm telling you to watch him," he smiled. "You'll get to know him and find out that he makes a pretty damn good sparring partner. He's better than droopy eyes here."

"What did you call me, squinty eyes? There's no way you can be better than me!"

"What planet do you live on, slushy?" he let go of Erza's hand and pointed at Gray, "There's no way that you can beat me!"

"Gray-sama, your clothes…" said the now blushing Juvia.

"Damn it! When did I?" he asked, bewildered that he had taken off his clothes, again.

"Seriously dude, stop stripping!" said Natsu with an overly disgusted look on his face.

"Aye!" agreed Happy.

"Shut up! It's not like I do this on purpose!"

"You are such a per…" said Natsu, and Gray grabbed him by his scarf, glaring at him.

"Don't you fucking say it, I'll fucking knock you out!" he said threateningly, as the fire mage slapped his hand aside.

"Stop it, you two! It's way too early for your nonsense!" said Lucy, looking at them as sternly as possible.

"Aye…" agreed Happy. They shut up, but continued to glare at each other. Erza had sat down, but continued to watch Gajeel.

* * *

"But you don't understand! That woman is scary!" said Droy.

"She has the dreaded Puppy Eyes!"added Jet. Just then, they both got bashed in the head by the scary, puppy eyed, book carrying solid script mage. Gajeel and Lily laughed as she pouted and shouted at the two.

"Seriously, how am _I_ that scary?"

They sat up, rubbing their now sore heads. "You remember that mission we were on when we took you to play pool for the first…" Droy started to say before he was interrupted by Levy.

"And last."

"That doesn't matter, do you remember?"

"Yeah."

"Remember that you trashed the place? And we had to use part of the reward for repairs," said Jet.

"Not to mention that the council got Master in trouble and we got chewed out for it," finished Droy.

"Hmm, I do sound sorta scary!" she said smiling. The guys all looked at each other, and decided to drop the subject before she got any ideas.

"So, let's continue the training then!" said Lily, and the three of them headed to the amusement center. As they walked by, Lucy caught Levy's eye, causing the blunette to rush toward her best friend, nearly knocking Mira's tray to the ground. Levy hugged her ferociously, squeezing the air out of the blonde stellar spirit mage. Amazingly, Lucy hugged her just as strongly. Gajeel and Lily shared the same thought, _I'm glad I didn't get squeezed like that!_ Others, like Wakaba, would disagree with that.

"I wish_ I_ was caught between those two right now," he sighed, imagining the scenario as Mira walked to Wakaba's table with coffee.

"What about your wife?" asked Mira slyly, transforming into Wakaba's other half.

"Mira-chan, don't be so cruel!" he said, as Macau and Reedus laughed. "A man can fantasize, right?" he said, looking at the guys for some support.

"Besides," she said, transforming into herself, "aren't you old enough to be their father?"

"Mira-chan, I'm not that old!" he said, dishearteningly. "You can make that argument with Macau who has a girlfriend around your age."

"Love and lust are two different things, Wakaba," she said with a smile and a wink, and left him to ponder her words. She watched as the two girls ended their embrace, while Gajeel and Lily watched and waited patiently. She would definitely have to ask Cana and Juvia what had happened yesterday. She could not imagine Gajeel to be the patient type.

"You're back!" said a very excited Levy.

"Yeah, in one piece and I made my rent for once!" she glanced at Gajeel and Lily, who were waiting for her little blue-haired friend. "So, where are you going with Gajeel and Lily?"

"To play some pool. Do you want to come?" she asked.

"No, I'm no good at it. Besides, I really want to finish that book," she said, pointing at the book Levy had brought with her. It was the same book that she had finished yesterday.

"Sure, I brought it just in case you'd come back today. I'm so glad I did! It's really good, and I'm dying to talk to you about it, so finish it up as soon as you can!"

"Sure thing! Have fun!"

"Will do! Glad you guys are back!" she said to the rest of Lucy's team.

"Aye!" replied Happy as Natsu and Gray smiled at her.

Erza, however, wasn't smiling and said in a very serious tone, "Be careful." Natsu shot her a look.

Levy, thinking that Erza was talking about her destructive pool playing methods, just smiled back and said, "I will! See ya guys later!" and headed towards the amusement center with Gajeel and Lily. Erza and Natsu glared at each other, but dropped the subject entirely and went back to their breakfast.

Mira walked back to the bar and filled the coffee pot. Juvia had been sitting next to Gray, ecstatic that he had come back. But Cana had mentioned to Juvia to come sit next to her by the bar, and they were now deep in conversation. Mira walked towards them with the coffee pot in hand.

Cana said, "I didn't think there was a cute side to Gajeel."

"Gajeel-kun is very complicated, but he has a good heart."

"I think so too," said Mira as she filled Cana's coffee mug.

"He should, or else Master would've never accepted him into Fairy Tail, no matter how hard Juvia would've tried to convince him otherwise."

"Yes, that's true. Master Makarov loves this guild with all his heart. He would never willingly put us in danger."

Cana took a sip of her coffee, "Still, it's going to be very difficult for him to get close to Levy, not after what he did."

Juvia frowned as Mira served her some coffee as well. "Juvia also attacked the guild. Juvia attacked Lucy and Gray-sama. Is it any different than what Gajeel-kun did?"

"Juvia, trust me when I say I understand fighting. But it's one thing for two people to fight, and another thing entirely when someone attacks another person."

"Juvia sees no wrong, Gajeel-kun fought against _three mages_, in all honesty, he was outnumbered and those three aren't completely helpless either," Juvia said as she added milk to her coffee.

"But he destroyed our guild," Cana started to say before she was interrupted.

"Juvia helped," she was adding sugar.

"But you helped Erza and them at that tower," countered Cana as she took another sip of her coffee.

"And Gajeel-kun helped them at that other world they were transported to."

"And let's not forget that he helped Natsu beat Laxus," Mira added as Juvia tasted her coffee.

"That's true; by that logic you should hate Juvia as much as you hate Gajeel."

"I don't hate either of you," clarified Cana. "I'm just letting you know why certain people don't trust Gajeel." Their minds drifted towards a certain scarlet haired mage who was, at the moment, separating Natsu and Gray from going at it again.

"Gajeel-kun is loyal to a fault," said Juvia sadly. "Now that he's in Fairy Tail he will be loyal no matter how he's treated or what he's asked to do."

"I don't doubt that. He's just not…"

"Approachable?" suggested Mira.

"Yeah. Natsu has accepted him since they fought Laxus and so has Wendy, Lucy, Gray, Levy, Mira and myself. Oh and Jet and Droy to a certain extent.

Mira laughed, "Did you know that Gray likes Gajeel's songs?"

"Gray-sama has mentioned that he likes the content, not the delivery."

"I'd have to agree with him," said Mira.

"He's getting there, but he still needs a lot more work," said Cana, continuing their conversation. "Lily has helped a lot on making him seem less like a loner."

"Juvia thinks so too."

"But it's going to be difficult for people to accept Levy and Gajeel. It's like your daughter or younger sister's boyfriend looks like a delinquent," Mira said as she shuddered picturing Lisanna and a delinquent.

Juvia laughed, "But does that really matter? As long as they're happy. Besides, Gajeel isn't a bad man."

Cana and Mira thought about it. Cana smiled and said, "No, it doesn't. As long as we're there to support them." Juvia and Mira nodded in agreement. From across the room, Wendy and Natsu smiled.

* * *

Levy's pool lessons continued on for three more days before Gajeel pronounced her graduated. Cana and Juvia were playing pool as were Reedus and Macau, and laughed at Cana's outburst when Gajeel said, "Well bookworm, there's nothing else I can teach you. The rest is practice and finding your own pace."

"What? Already?" shouted Cana, making everyone laugh.

"She's a quick learner," said Gajeel, looking at Cana as if she was crazy.

"You're a good teacher," said Levy, making Gajeel blush at the compliment. Lily saved him from embarrassment.

"Don't praise this guy, you'll inflate his ego and I have to live with that."

"Hey!" said Gajeel, looking at his cat.

The pool lessons may have been over, but Cana and Juvia had a sense that this was only the beginning.

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**That's that! Hope you liked it! I'm taking a small hiatus to write a story for Valentine's Day, which I hope to post in the next few days. Hopefully I'll be able to finish by the 14th! Reviews are appreciated! **


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